Declining number of car producers at Frankfurt motor show

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Several leading car makers have decided not to attend the Frankfurt International Motor Show (IAA) this year, Spiegel Online magazine reported on Friday.

Nissan, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Infiniti, Jeep, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Rolls-Royce, Tesla, and Volvo will be absent from the event.
The IAA is the by far largest motor show in Europe, and one of the largest in the world. Around 900,000 visitors and more than 10,000 journalists are expected to attend.
Responding to Spiegel Online, the missing brands gave a range of reasons for their decision.

“Forgoing a presence at the IAA this year is not a general decision against Germany as a location for shows or the IAA specifically,” Nissan representative Thomas Hausch said.

Hausch said Nissan was simply keen to generate more attention for new releases by organizing exclusive events rather than displaying them at an industry-wide show. Similarly, last year, Swedish car maker Volvo cancelled its presence at the IAA in favor of a series of its own road shows.

Meanwhile, U.S. electric car maker Tesla indicated a preference for trade shows which were more oriented towards digital technology.

We do not see ourselves as a typical automotive manufacturer. As a consequence, we try to present our models at non-industrial events where one might not expect to encounter Tesla,” a company spokesperson explained.

Some car makers who did not fully turn their backs on the IAA were nonetheless keen to downsize their presence there. The French PSA conglomerate is only represented by its Citroen and Opel brands. A PSA spokesperson noted that as the range of consumer shows increases, the press attention that can be generated by a single event had become smaller.

Several industry representatives voiced concern to Spiegel Online that shows such as the IAA did not represent great value for money as a consequence.

Even domestic firms such as Mercedes and Audi will rent less space this year than they have at the previous IAA. According to the German automotive industry association (VDA), one square meter of exhibition space costs 166 euros (200 U.S. dollars) at the Frankfurt event. BMW is estimated to be paying two million euros for its showroom alone, not including staff, construction, and marketing costs. (1 euro=1.20 U.S. dollars)